California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent State of Emergency Proclamation on drought conditions has focused attention on water scarcity and the need for efficient water use. Texas is also experiencing severe drought conditions. Colorado, Nevada, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have all felt the effects of drought recent years as well. The good news in all this bad drought news is there are still lots of basic, inexpensive ways… Read more »

Pat Mulroy oversees the operations of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD). The Water Authority is responsible for acquiring, treating and delivering water to Southern Nevada. Mulroy was a principal architect of the Authority, which has allowed Southern Nevada to grow and thrive during a time of water shortages and drought. Pat is known nation wide as a leader in water… Read more »

Two years ago we launched ValleyCresttakeson.com and it has been amazing how many people helped make a difference in water conservation. Thank you to all of you who have shared your expertise, contributed ideas, and helped raise awareness about water. We couldn’t have done it without you. Most of the work on the blog is done after hours, and most of our subscribers read the blog after hours. This is not just our work; it… Read more »

By now we’re all pretty well programmed to conserve electricity. Turn off the lights, unplug appliances, don’t leave the refrigerator door open, etc. But we’re missing a really important point: the energy-water connection. Almost one fifth of California’s energy is used to move water. Water conservation and water management are becoming vital to energy conservation. Nearly 75% of the state’s rainfall occurs in Northern California, while 75% of the agricultural and urban water use… Read more »

1. To improve water conservation install a rain sensor, it turns off your irrigation when it rains. 2. Use a weather-based controller. The use of smart controllers can reduce water usage 24% a year on average. 3. Learn about available rebate programs by checking with local or state water agencies. Rebates help offset irrigation investments. 4. It’s important to partner with the right expertise (contractor/water manager), and smart technology to achieve conservation and plant health… Read more »

In the last 12 months Valleycresttakeson.com had over 41,000 page views. A clear sign more people are finding water interesting, or at least pricing and the potential of water shortages are attracting their interest. Water management and water conservation continue to gain popularity. Domestically, the states with the most readers are California, Texas and Florida, followed by Georgia, Arizona and Colorado. New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia round out the top 10 states. … Read more »

On a hot day, a large mature tree can lose hundreds of gallons of water from transpiration through its leaves. The same tree will lose almost no water on a cold winter day, and there are many possibilities in between. Trees represent a significant investment in our landscape from both a capital and water expense. Maintaining trees and keeping them healthy is an important part of our sustainability program and will help with water conservation. … Read more »

Watering trees in turf creates water management opportunity

Turf is typically watered with spray heads and they are not designed to provide a deep watering. Planting trees in turf creates some issues for irrigation. Watering trees is very different than watering turf. Watering your trees properly may require some out of the box thinking for your irrigation system, but the results will reflect positively on your landscape’s most valuable asset. Create a separate watering zone… Read more »

As I walk out of the grocery store with two bags of groceries (in recyclable grocery bags of course) costing almost $80 I start to contemplate how bad is this drought? Recently corn prices topped $8.00 a bushel (a 50% increase from a month ago) and soybeans crossed the $17 a bushel mark. These are prices we have never seen before in the world. This also causes meat prices to rise dramatically as well because … Read more »

The official start of summer is tomorrow. If you take a look at the record temperatures across the United States you will notice summer has been here for awhile. The first three months of 2012 were 6 degrees higher than average in the lower 48 states, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It’s great to be able to wear shorts in February but there are some potential negative effects. According… Read more »